HomeMy WebLinkAboutITEM V-KMEMORANDUM
Date: October 21, 2010
To: Municipal Services Committee
From: Bob Karnofski, Assistant Chief of Police
Reference: Alarm Statistics
The question before the Municipal Services Committee is to advise staff if the current Alarm
Ordinance should remain unchanged or should it be amended to allow a one time, no charge
Police response for a false alarm at their residence or business.
Since July 2009 until October 18, 2010, Auburn PD has responded to 1,171 false alarms, or
80.75 per month. July 2008 to June 2009 we responded to 1380 false alarms or 115 per month.
In comparing the same 3 month period of July - September
2009 120 false alarms per month average - no mandatory fine
2010 76 false alarms per month average - fined
This equals a 37% reduction in the number of alarms per month
Fines
The average number of First time false alarms per month during the year we did not charge was
56. (July 2009-June 2010) The average number of First time false alarms we responded to in
the 3 months since we have been charging is 44, a 21.4% reduction. (July - September 2010)
Amount of fines paid (second and additional alarms) 88.43% for 2009
Amount of fines paid to date for 2010 - 70.24%
Suspensions
From the inception of the program, we have sent out "notice of intent to suspend in 30 days"
letters to 255 accounts (for excessive alarms or non-payment) We have 103 accounts that are
currently in suspension. 21 accounts have been reinstated for paying past fines/taking education
courses which is provided online regarding how subscribers can prevent false alarms.
Appeals
2009 - 14 appeals, 10 of which were approved July - December 2009
2010 - 55 appeals, 37 of which were approved January- October 18 2010
The question has been posed to the 3rd party administrator whether waiving the first time fine of
$100 would be a cost-factor for them in administering the accounts and how much that would be
in revenue to them. To date, from the inception of the program, the total first offense fines would
have been $83,900 if all were charged the $100.
We started billing July of 2010, but this includes all first alarms, including those with succesful
appeals. According to the 3rd Party Administrator, with 5,144 registered alarms, if each one
received a free first alarm, the POTENTIAL lost revenue to the Alarm Administrator would be
$128,600. 5,144 (Accounts currently in the database) X $100 (Fee for the false alarm) X 25% (Revenue)=
$128,600 (Revenue lost)